


Peeping Tom

by PennyForTheGuy



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Gods I hate tabloids, M/M, Paprazzi pictures, Shitty tabloid scandal, The fluffiest fluff I can manage, male/male relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 05:22:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5079466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PennyForTheGuy/pseuds/PennyForTheGuy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack has kept his little office fling with his PA quiet a long time. It was a open secret sure but it was at least quiet. If you didn't work on Helios you didn't know. That's not true anymore though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peeping Tom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AshesTheTerrible](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshesTheTerrible/gifts).



> Bit of a reactionary piece against the tidal wave of Rhack hate in the wake of episode 5. Its also a gift for AshesTheTerrible who requested some fluff. I can't say I'm good at this but I hope its fluffiness leaves all readers filling through feeling fulfilled.

Angry typing is always sharp on the ears. It’s unmistakable. Pounding and scraping plastic always breaks through even a buzzing cubicle office. So in Jack’s office, often as quiet as space, it echoes like gunshots.

Jack’s been clawing away at his keyboard most of day. His temper is absolutely towering but today is a day perhaps never to be seen again because even to his erratic mind there’s no convenient target to take it out on. Business was booming, people were on form today and a big deal with Maliwan was going through even with the strange and nigh unreasonable terms Jack had first insisted on. 

So the King of Hyperion fumed internally as he worked like mad. Two things about this whole situation really bothered his PA. Firstly was the fact he was fuming internally for so damn long, he’d go off like an A-bomb at the slightest nudge by now. No wait, he was well past A-bomb. This eventual blow up would match KT-event levels. 

Secondly was he didn't really know what was eating Jack to begin with. The man was in a bad mood when he arrived at 8 on the dot that morning. Jack had been buried in some magazine, staring it down as he approached his desk to say hello. As soon as Jack noticed him he stashed the magazine away one of his lockable drawers.

“Pumpkin! Hey Rhysie how ya doin’?!”

Jack rounded his desk and hugged him. A normal morning’s greeting was Jack pulling him into his chair for a big and sloppy kiss on a good day. A bad day was an instant tirade on who fucked up, why, how and what Jack was going to do them because of it. 

Rhys’ desk was situated halfway down the aisle leading to Jack’s own, facing the said pathway. He’d looked over to his boss more times than he’d care to acknowledge hoping that maybe Jack would open up. It wasn’t happening. The man was as stubborn a shit as had ever been born. So Rhys would have to noodle it out himself. He couldn’t just ask that was for damn sure. The magazine had to be what was upsetting him. 

But why the fuck would some dumb magazine do that? And why would Jack hide it from him? He thought about it off and on while taking calls and then an idea hit him when he got another email from that trashy company gossip blog. 

Jack didn’t like making a big deal about their odd fling. Could the news have leaked to some tabloid thought? Could that get him this out of sorts?

Over his lunch break Rhys did a search on the ECHO net and found what was looking for. Pictures of him and Jack in that huge office flirting, kissing, and even worse. They had been taken from the outside. Looked like someone had hacked one of those window cleaning bots that kept the station’s outer glass free of the thin film of oil (and fecal matter) that could develop. Whether the rat had a hunch or got lucky didn’t matter.

Handsome Jack and his affair with his pretty male PA had everyone’s tongue wagging in the worst way. The articles called Rhys a ladder climbing manwhore, a slut, Jack’s masturbation assistance, a pretty and pliable piece of ass that presented no risk of pregnancy and wouldn’t pressure him for marriage. 

What stung Rhys most of all was how they painted him as your typical dumb tramp; can barely do his own job and is really only there for Jack to dump a load into. Rhys sat in the Hall of Heroism for a long while glowering into his ECHO display. Most people around where clearly chatting and tittering on about him but had the good sense to stay the hell away. As he was heading back to the top office something struck Rhys.

Jack was upset by this article and the others. He’d tried to hide it from Rhys. By the time the elevator doors opened Rhys was spaced out with jaw hanging open. Took him a few seconds to realize where he was. He shook his head and went straight back in.

  
Jack was working through the blueprints of an experimental weapon, scrolling through on his screen and highlighting things he wanted tweaked. Rhys stood by his own desk for a minute or two, then approached him. 

“What’s up kitten?” Jack still sounded to be in a dark mood, not looking up from his work. Rhys slowly moved around Jack’s desk and stopped right by his huge golden seat. Jack still didn’t look up.

“Jack I saw the article.”

Jack’s head snapped towards Rhys, for just a split second he had the perfect look of shock before it melted into rage.

“Did someone show you?”

“No...I guessed and I found them.”

“Wha-” Jack clawed at his forehead in frustration, “How do you so god damn always you figure these thing out?”

“I’ve gotten to know you.”

Before he was even halfway through his sentence Jack popped out his and blew past him, pacing in front of window that betrayed their secret to the galaxy. 

“I didn’t want you to see that dammit.” he growled.

“Yeah I know.” Rhys struggled to keep Jack from hearing his smile in his voice. Jack turned and eyed him.

“Face me kiddo.”

Rhys turned around and beamed at Jack.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You like this shit?! Cause this is something I can’t get into that’s for fucking sure!”

Rhys took a few steps towards him.

“I’m not happy about article. I’m happy about something else.”

“Enlighten me.”

Rhys closed the space between them gingerly and stood eye to eye with Jack.

“You didn’t want me to know, you tried to hide this from me.”

Jack visibly shuddered but kept up his angry stance up. He swallowed thickly and considered a moment before just letting the cat out of bag. 

“I was making calls while you were gone. Guess I was just a minute or two too late. Got those filthy pictures and everything else off the ECHO net 10 or 15 minutes ago.”

Jack tried to step past him but Rhys stopped him with a hand on his chest. 

“What?” Jack snarled.

“Come on, please drop the tough act.” Rhys leaned in and nuzzled his cheek, “Let me enjoy this.”

Rhys kissed tentatively at first but Jack grabbed him round the waist and deepened it immediately. They made out in front of the window, and Rhys was just starting to melt into it when he heard a high pitched mechanical sound from just outside it.

“Mmmh,” Rhys broke the kiss and pointed Jack to the cleaning bot now hovering outside. The damn paparazzi weren’t even being subtle now. The thing had a huge lens mounted on the front. Rhys glared at it, then looked back to Jack only to see the biggest, brightest shit eating grin glued to his face. 

“Naw kitten, don’t worry. It's mine. No other bots are even allowed on this level any more.”

Rhys raised a brow.

“It's yours?”

“Hey, it wasn’t a bad idea...for me to use. Those idiots who shot the photos are getting shot with shrapnel made from their own camera, but for us it's fun!”

“Alright Jack,” Rhys rolled his eyes and pulled him back towards the desk. 

“Atta boy!” Jack pushed him up onto the desk and then onto his back, both their bodies passing through the prototype display. 

“I’ll play along…”

“Mmh.” Jack hummed as his kissed Rhys’ neck, hands already wandering.

“On one condition.”

Jack gave an exaggerated sigh. 

“And what is it pumpkin?”

Rhys reached up with his flesh hand and carded it through Jack’s hair. Jack hadn’t said a word about him ruining his do in months, he only ever lulled into the touch. 

“Say how you feel. We both know it's true, but I want to hear it.”

Jack rolled his eyes and snorted.

“You proved it today. Just say it, please.”

Jack gave Rhys a long hard look. Rhys knew to patient, let him weigh his thoughts and options. The man was as hard as they came and more guarded than a royal palace. You can’t storm a palace, you have to let its occupants come to you.

“Yes ki-Rhys. It’s true.” he finally gave it up.

“What is?” Rhys asked, not a little cheekily.

Jack gave him a look but answered all the same.

“You’ve grown on me. You wormed your way into. You wanted Handsome Jack’s heart? You fucking got it. Happy? Huh?”

Rhys beamed and nodded, tugging Jack back down but the man actually resisted. 

“And what about you huh?”

“Jack, you know you had me a long time ago. Not long after our first dinner in fact.”

Jack screwed up his face trying to recall something.

“Was that before or after the first time I took you back to the penthouse?”

“Looooong after. I thought it was just a fling till you took me out.”

“Oh...so you figured this out long ago huh?”

Rhys nodded. Jack grabbed his nose and wagged Rhys’ head back and forth with it.

“Did my wittle Rhysie hire a cameraman or two? Did he get impatient?”

Rhys giggled and batted his hand away.

“No Jack. You’ve told me this a lot; ever since that dinner.”

“What with every little thing I did? Like some syrupy love song?”

Rhys nodded enthusiastically. 

“You're like a walking Celine Dion concert really.” 

Jack glared a minute before dropping his shoulders and just giving up. 

“Ok pumpkin. You win today. You’re a damn sight better than my last few mistakes that’s for sure. Especially one. She wasn’t as...understanding as you. But I’ll tell ya all about that later on.”

Jack let Rhys pull him down at last and kissed his lover hard and sweet.

It wasn’t long before skag skin boots were pulled off (and tossed waaaay off into a corner in the vain hopes Rhys wouldn’t find them again) closely followed by every other item of clothing between them. 

They were taking their time for once. About 15 separate calls and too many emails to count piled up while they put on a show for Jack’s newest toy outside. 

 


End file.
